The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to combat the rising influx of illicit pharmaceutical products and other harmful substances into Nigeria.
The MoU was signed during the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC) conference on Thursday in Abuja.
Speaking on the significance of the partnership, the Comptroller-General of NCS, Adewale Adeniyi, described the MoU as the culmination of years of dedicated dialogue and coordination between the two agencies.
“This partnership is a response to a major scourge we are facing in the country,” he remarked, emphasizing the MoU includes a comprehensive scope of collaboration, particularly in intelligence sharing, which involves the exchange of intelligence between both agencies.
Adeniyi highlighted one of the agreement’s central elements: intelligence sharing between the two agencies.
“Sometimes, at midnight, NAFDAC DG sends intelligence to me, saying, we learn that a suspicious container may be birthing in the morning. This kind of real-time information flow is critical to our joint efforts,” he noted.
The customs chief recounted a recent state of emergency declared at one of Nigeria’s ports, explaining that reports indicate the move was merely a scratch on the surface of illicit pharmaceutical products entering Nigeria’s markets.
He called for a unified response to end the circulation of such harmful items, saying, “It is time for all of us to say, collectively, that this will be the beginning of the end. We are going to save Nigeria and the future of our kids from these dangerous products.”
Prof. Moji Adeyeye, Director-General of NAFDAC, described the MoU as a significant and necessary step, given the daily impact of the products regulated by her agency on Nigerians. “We consume at least two of our regulated products every day—food and healthcare items. This partnership is about ensuring that the food, drugs, and healthcare products we take are safe and of the highest quality,” she stated.
Prof. Adeyeye further explained that the threats posed by unregulated and illicit products pose not only public health risks but also national security threats, citing how some approved chemicals could be misused by criminals and terrorists.
“We have ghost companies that are not on our lists. This MoU marks the beginning of the end of such practices,” she affirmed.